


baby lotion and marigolds.

by BNGTN_SUNFLOWER



Category: BLACKPINK, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Age Swap, Alternate Universe - High School, Basketball Player Jeon Jungkook, Basketball Player Min Yoongi | Suga, Cheerleader Park Jimin, Cute Park Jimin, Feminization, Fluffy, I love him, Jennie Kim & Park Jimin Are Best Friends, Jeon Jungkook Is Bad at Feelings, Jeon Jungkook is Whipped, Jeon Jungkook is a Little Shit, Jimin is a soft Lil baby, Jungkook is dumb, Jungkook is the hyung, Kim Taehyung | V & Park Jimin Are Best Friends, M/M, Mentioned Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Park Jimin Is a Sweetheart, Sweet Jeon Jungkook, Theyre in America, and they fckin love each other, bulletproofsunflowersfic, dont like don’t read, leave a comment pls, mentioned twice members, my girl Seulgi here, smol angst smol angst, the underage thing is bc jimin is sixteen and jungkook is eighteen, woo this kinda sucks, woop woop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-19 11:06:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14872605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BNGTN_SUNFLOWER/pseuds/BNGTN_SUNFLOWER
Summary: Jungkook over the years kept his friend at arms distance, from his first day of Kindergarten to his second year in Junior High, never letting anyone get too close, literally and metaphorically.But then there was Jimin.God, Jimin.ORA ‘even-the-teachers-think-we’re-dating-AU’





	baby lotion and marigolds.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bubble1765](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubble1765/gifts).



> Jimin is girly.
> 
> Deal with it.

Jungkook, all of his life, had been known to be the boy who had some very firm boundaries.

Ever since he was three and his cousin Mingyu tried to hug him when he was caked with dirt and Jungkook threw a temper tantrum, everyone knew that the boy didn’t like to be touched, not without permission, nor did he like to be dirtied in anyway by anyone that wasn’t himself, thank you very much.

It wasn’t that he was a clean-freak or a germaphobe because trust me, he _wasn’t_.

Jungkook had been playing sports since he was seven, starting with a Little League Soccer team and then Football in middle school, with things like Field Hockey, Rugby, Hockey, Baseball, and Basketball in between, which meant sweaty socks and drenched jerseys draped across multiple surfaces in his room, the screeching his mother often gave him mostly about how contradicting he was.

“ _You hate mess but can’t keep your room clean?!_ ” Things like that.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, boundaries. Jungkook over the years kept his friend at arms distance, from his first day of Kindergarten to his second year in Junior High, never letting anyone get too close, literally _and_ metaphorically.

But then there was _Jimin_.

God, _Jimin_.

Park Jimin, if they were in Korea, but since Jungkook lived in Eugene, it was Jimin Park, one of the many Asians that went to Port Richmond High School.

Jimin, oh _Jimin_ —the small sophomore Jimin who smelled like Johnson’s baby lotion bumped into Jungkook on his first day of school when Jungkook was just a junior, spilling a sloppy joe all over his favorite Stussy hoodie and Timberlands, making the cafeteria fall to a hush because “ _oh my god, he’s going to flip—everyone knows that he hates mess._ ”

Jungkook originally was well, to put it simply, _livid_ . He was ready to _throttle_ whoever was responsible for making a mess of his _checkered mock neck_ and _brand new_ black Timberlands, _the dickhead_ , and had looked up, face stony and jaw set only to freeze when he saw a small pink haired boy with pouty lips and teary eyes staring back at him, fear more than evident on his face.

“ _I-I’m sorry, I d-didn’t mean to.._ ” Jimin had stammered out, voice wobbly and his hands holding the blue lunch tray. Jungkook didn’t even have time to open his mouth before the boy burst into tears, head bowed and chin tucked to his chest, shoulders hunched like he was carrying the biggest burden on them.

The whole cafeteria was still watching, Jungkook remembered, and he had known that Jimin was a freshman that couldn’t be marked with such an embarrassment so early into his high school career unlike him, who had been one of the “cool Asian kids” since he enrolled into Port Richmond.

So, rather than then flip out on the kid, he smiled instead, albeit a bit forcedly, and placed a hand on Jimin’s head, ruffling the curly pink tresses, voice calm and nonchalant.

“ _It’s only a bit of sauce, no biggie,_ ”

Jimin was shocked, eyes wide and mouth gaping, and Jungkook gave a wider smile at the cute confused expression that morphed into his features and winked in the heat of the moment, laughing at the small blush and squeak he conjured out of Jimin, walking away to toss his lunch and change into the spare clothes he kept in his gym locker.

Now from that day, Jungkook didn’t think he would see Jimin again, not even at the school’s sports games, which everyone went to, but he was proven wrong when he had stepped out of his last period calculus with Yoongi, who was talking about their upcoming basketball game, and saw a small figure fidgeting across the hall, a Subways bag clutched in their small hands and a sparkly barrette clipping their bangs to the side.

“ _Isn’t that the freshie from two weeks ago?_ ” Yoongi muttered with a jab to Jungkook’s side, the taller surprised himself. He nodded dumbly as the two walked up to Jimin, the boy drowning in a pale yellow sweatshirt while sporting white leggings and grey bailey bow Uggs, looking nervous while he chewed on his bottom lip, eyes flitting up to the duo when Jimin felt them come closer.

“ _Uh, hi?_ ” Jungkook had greeted unsurely, a small welcoming smile on his face in an attempt to calm the anxious freshman down. Jimin gave a nervous smile back, curling his fingers tighter around the bag.

“ _Hi, um, Jungkook right?_ ” He asked, tone far from confident. Yoongi almost snickered but Jungkook was quick to smoothly stomp on his foot, smile widening at the sound of his friend swearing and gasping in pain.

“ _That’s me, and you are?_ ” The boy was still nervous, and Jungkook found it cute, despite being a shy person himself when it came to new people, and watched as he had an internal battle with himself before speaking again, voice still laced with anxiety but a bit softer than before, less forced.

“ _My name…i-it’s Jimin, Jimin Park.._ ”

Jungkook hummed, “ _Park, huh?_ ”

Jimin nodded, slow and unsure, “ _Korean right?_ ” Jungkook then asked in his native tongue, watching Jimin’s eyes widen comically. The boy then nodded, a wider smile on his face.

“ _Yeah, wow! I haven’t met another Korean here yet, and I was nervous that you only spoke English!_ ”

“ _Really, not one?_ ” Jungkook raised a brow—his year was swarmed with them, from the ever-annoying Jongin (who went by _Kai_ ) on his Soccer team to the asshole Yugyeom on the Basketball team, not including the females like Wendy and Lisa on the female Softball JV team.

Jimin shook his head. “ _I’ve met other Asians like my new friends Jun and Minghao, who are Chinese, and a Japanese girl named Sana, but no Koreans. Thank god though, I was beginning to feel like a cultural-outcast here,_ ”

Jungkook grinned, “ _Well, Port Richmond has a lot of Koreans, so I don’t doubt that you’ll meet someone soon,_ ” He had felt the same way when he first enrolled in the school, right until he met Yoongi and then Yugyeom, expanding his circle of Korean friends great in the span of three months.

Speaking of Yoongi, the teen cleared his throat, speaking up for the first time in minutes.

“ _As much as I see you’re enjoying this talk Jungkook, please don’t forget that we have practice for our first game in less than ten minutes so if you could speed it along—_ ”

“ _Oh, I’m sorry!_ ” Jimin apologized, back to being nervous and frantic. He looked down to untangle his hands from the bag and Jungkook shot his hyung a glare, earning one in return and before it could escalate Jimin gave a small “ _Um,_ ” and Jungkook whipped back around, grin shrunken to a small smile.

“ _I,_ ” Jimin started again, cheeks flushed. He lifted the Subways bag. “ _I_ _wanted to give you this, to apologize for the other day…I heard you’re big on sports around here and thought that you’d like Subways so.._ ”

Jungkook gave him a bunny grin, always happy at the thought of food, free food at that. “ _Ah, I actually love Subways, Jimin, Thanks!_ ”

At that moment, when Jimin flushed red and looked down, Yoongi tugged on his arm, looking annoyed.

“ _Let’s go, already, we’ll be late if you just keep standing here flirting with the freshie,_ ”

“ _We’re not flirting,_ ” Jungkook gritted out, taking a peek in the bag as Yoongi kept pulling on his arm. Jimin shuffled, almost a full head shorter than Jungkook, face red, and spoke up, tone soft, back to speaking in English.

“ _Don’t get in trouble because of me, just_ — **_I hope you enjoy it_** ,” He rushed out before turning around, ears burning a bright scarlet.

“ _Bye, have a good practice, Jungkook-hyung!_ ” He had heard Jimin squeak before running off, Yoongi barking out a quick laugh.

“ _Wow Jungkook,_ ** _you’re_** _the hyung now,_ ”

“ _Shut_ ** _up_** ,” He pushed past his teeth, grabbing the Lime Gatorade from the bag. It was his favorite, and he was oddly content that Jimin bought that one as he left with Yoongi to the gym, the small freshman stuck in his mind, onlookers confused because “ _did Jungkook have a boyfriend?_ ”

From there, things got casual.

As days passed, Jungkook began to see more of Jimin.

In the hallways, when the younger was fumbling with his locker and struggled to pull the rusty thing open. Jungkook had stopped his sprint (yes, sprint because he was late for Creative Writing) and backtracked over to Jimin, who was pouting at his locker, offering his help breezily while eying how well the oversized turtleneck and round specs fit the boy.

“ _Really, you’d do that for me hyung?_ ” Jimin asked earnestly, eyes blown out in disbelief and admiration. Jungkook gave a sheepish grin, setting his books down on the ground with a nod because hey, this wasn’t the first time he’s been late to Ms. Loder’s class.

With a few quick turns and a powerful punch to the metal, Jimin’s locker swung open and thank-yous were given by Jimin along with a shrug and another wink from Jungkook, who scooped his books up and ran off to his class, missing the looks he received from onlookers in the hall.

Then there was outside of school, at the supermarket where he was shopping while his mom and dad were in Bali for their anniversary and he needed to feed his younger brother Junghyun, surprised to see Jimin failing to reach for the Coco Puffs on the last shelf, booted feet struggling to even hop up to its height, a boy who had to be his brother cackling at his misfortune.

“ _Stop laughing, you ass!_ ” He heard Jimin grunt in Korean, tone whiny. “ _Why can’t you just get them instead?_ ”

“ _Because it’s funny to see you struggle,_ ” The obviously older had retorted, leaning against the silver shopping cart. Jungkook felt his eye twitch at that, Jimin drooping visibly before going back to struggling with reaching the box of cereal, the older taking it upon himself to stroll through the aisle, deciding that he was _also_ craving some Coco Puffs.

“ _Jungkook?_ ” He heard Jimin splutter, the jock reaching up with no struggle and pulling down a family sized box, giving Jimin a grin.

“ _Ah, Jimin,_ ” He acknowledged, Jimin’s look-a-like perking up from behind them. “ _What happened to calling me hyung?_ ” He joked with a charming smile, turning around and tossing the box into the younger’s cart.

Jimin blushed, fiddling with his fingers at the action, flustered and embarrassed, making Jungkook laugh good-heartedly, ruffling the smaller’s hair.

“ _Aigoo Jimin, you’re so cute,_ ” He gushed in Korean, making the younger turn a darker red, near the point of beating a stoplight.

“ _Hyung, stop it,_ ” He whined, lightly shoving away the older’s hand, Jungkook responding by flipping his palm around and grabbing his hand. Jimin’s brother choked behind him and Jungkook gave a smirk at the wide-eyed look on Jimin’s face, dropping his hand coolly before walking away.

“ _See you at school, Jiminie,_ ” He whistled, the ever-present wink he had with the younger appearing before he strolled off, casually grabbing a Lucky Charms and tossing it into his basket. Jimin’s brother, who Jungkook would find out was named Jihyun and his age, whispered roughly “ _Why didn’t you tell me you had a boyfriend?_ ” after he left, unknown to Jungkook.

After that, Jungkook had decided that instead of randomly seeing Jimin around, he would want to see him on his own time too, leading to him inviting the younger to his table for lunch, enjoying the way his meathead friends eyed Jimin curiously.

“ _He’s so small,_ ” Mingyu had first said, the six-foot-tall Junior causing Jimin to cower. Jungkook laughed before pulling the boy to sit next to him, beginning the first of their lunch hangouts with casual conversation.

Over time, as the month went from September to October, Jungkook found it out to be Jimin’s birthday, the older took him out after school which earned him many looks because “ _seriously, did Jungkook have a boyfriend?_ ”

He didn’t notice how attached he had gotten to the freshman over his Junior year, going from spending lunch together to Jimin cheering at his games with a bright sparkly sign, meeting each other’s families, and the smaller coming over to Jungkook’s house nearly every day as summer approaches for his pool because “ _Kookie-hyung, your house is so big! Wah, a pool! Let’s go for a swim!_ ”

They went from casual friends to literal best friends, Jimin being a face Jungkook was used to along with the rest of his friends and family who raised their brows and questioned the powers of Jimin, because whenever he touched Jungkook and he had dirty hands, the older didn’t even flinch, nor did he whine about personal space if the younger clung to him like a koala, which was most of the time.

Over the summer if Jimin stood too late and fell asleep, they would cuddle on Jungkook’s bed, the younger glued to his chest when he originally would try to stay as far away from the junior as he could be, Jungkook actually getting angry when the usual warmth of Jimin’s limbs would be absent.

“ _Jimin-ah, quit scooting away,_ ” Jungkook grunted, rolling onto his side to look at the smaller. Jimin was curled up into the thick blankets, the AC in his hyung’s room too powerful for his poor circulation.

“ _I’m fucking cold._ ” Jungkook grunted in annoyance, pulling at Jimin’s arm.

“ _B-But Kookie-hyung, I’m heavy_ …” The younger protested weakly, resisting feebly. Jungkook fixed him a glare before tugging roughly on the boy’s wrist, tucking him to his chest and wrapping both of his arms around his waist to ensure his entrapment before moving to lay on his back.

“ _I swear to god if you even try to move, I will bite you. And stop saying that you’re heavy, Jimin. You’re perfect just the way you are,_ ”

“ _Other people don’t think that,_ ” The younger mumbled into his chest, earning a frown from Jungkook, “ _Jeongyeon from the Ice-Cream shop says I should lose some pounds, that I look way too chubby,_ ”

“ _Guess we’re taking a trip to the ice-cream shop,_ ” Jungkook spoke curtly, blood boiling as Jimin leaned up with a face of mortification.

“ _K-Kookie-hyung!_ ”

He kept his promise though, ignoring Jimin’s pleads as he stomped down to the ice-cream shop and gave the girl an earful before giving the same one to her manager, getting her fired and publicly humiliated all at once.

Jimin was angry, but Jungkook’s insistent cuddles and one strawberry lollipop changed that within an hour.

Soon enough, they were close enough to know each other’s habits, summer ending and Jungkook’s senior year present, Jimin just entering his sophomore year.

The younger had dyed his hair from pink to blonde before the first day of school with Jungkook’s help, the senior himself having pink streaks in his bangs with a bit of persuasion and pleading from Jimin.

“ _Kookie-hyung, please? You’d look so cute!_ ”

“ _Are you saying I’m not already cute, Jimin-ah?_ ”

“ _H-Hyung!_ ”

“ _Aish, I’m kidding Minnie—sure, knock yourself out,_ ”

Jimin would be outside of every single one of Jungkook’s afternoon classes, waiting, rocking back and forth in his floral canvas sneakers and cute sparkly backpack with a banana muffin clutched in his hands, thanking the boy every time with a giant hug that tore a giggle from Jimin, moaning at the breakfast the smaller always provided before they walked off to lunch together, Jimin’s small hand clutched in his.

“ _You’re really close to Freshie, huh Kook?_ ” He remembered Yoongi commenting when he waved a goodbye to Jimin, who skipped into his Geometry class, sparkly backpack bouncing with every step.

Jungkook would only shrug, a fond smile on his face as he turned around, eyes shining.

“ _He’s alright, I guess,_ ”

It went from Jimin standing on the bleachers with a sign, shyly cheering, to him being the loudest one on the benches through every single game Jungkook had, even being recruited by the cheerleaders at one point due to his strong presence at the games, thus making him the loudest one on the squad.

“ _K-double O-K-I-E! Kookie, Kookie, take the lead!_ ”

“ _Player, Player, Number 13, you can do it! Beat our feens!_ ”

Jimin was a bit more feminine than most guys, which Jungkook didn’t mind one bit (not at all, actually preferred it due to the sweet smells the younger often wore), but he had to often reassure the boy that it was okay to be that way, especially since he wore the female cheerleader outfit instead of the male one, which the cheer captain Jennie, who was also one of Jimin’s close friends, didn’t mind one bit.

“ _You look great, Jiminie,_ ” Jungkook would reassure from behind him as he stood in front of the older’s mirror, having coming over to change and drive to the basketball game with. Jimin would blush and look down to his tennis shoes, white thighs socks hugging his legs gloriously as he fidgeted with his golden nails.

“ _Are you sure, Kookie-hyung? I don’t look too girly, right? Yugyeomie said I was too girly the other day.._ ”

The older clenched his fist, making many mental reminders to punch that idiot’s teeth in before exhaling silently through his nose, studying the smaller before him with careful eyes.

Jimin had his hair curly, artfully so, with two small portions in small pigtails, red and gold bands in his hair, makeup that he had mastered done flawlessly on his face with dark red eyelids and golden eyeliner, lips coated with clear gloss and all six of his lobe piercings in.

The uniform, a white fitted turtleneck and red vest with a golden lining, fit him perfectly in all the right places, the white pleated mini skirt with a golden lining and thigh high socks completing the outfit along with scarlet tennis shoes, a golden bracelet Jungkook had gifted to his for his sixteenth birthday decorating his wrist.

The elder smiled. “ _You look great Jimin-ah, so great that I think that I might be off my game a bit today because I’ll be looking at you,_ ”

Jimin froze, eyes watering and a childish pout on his lips, the younger turning around and flinging himself to Jungkook’s body.

“ _Kookie-hyung, you meanie—I wasn’t supposed to cry after doing my makeup!_ ” Jimin would whine with a sniffle into his varsity red jersey.

Jungkook chuckled, wrapping his arms around the Sophomore. “ _I’m sorry, Minnie. Forgive hyung_?”

“ _Of course meanie—help me fix my makeup before Jennie kills me!_ ”

“ _Of course, c’mere—pass me the napkins,_ ”

When they did get to the game, Jimin looking brand new, Jungkook didn’t forget to hit Yugyeom hard enough to bruise right on his arm with the menacing growl of “ _Watch your fucking mouth about you say to Jimin, fucking_ ** _dipshit_** _._ ”

Needless to say, Jungkook managed to get the elder to sheepishly apologize after the game with a sweaty arm slung around the smaller’s shoulders and managed to cause more rumors.

Which led them to now.

Well, to twenty minutes ago.

Jungkook had been packing up as the bell rang in his last class of English, zipping up his Nike bag and slinging it over his shoulder while walking over to the teacher, Ms. Ingraham, and handing his essay over breezily.

“Nice work, Mr. Jeon,” She commented while skimming the pages of his clumpy letters. Jungkook gave a smile awkward smile, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“Thank you,” He replies earnestly, glad that he was at least improving somewhat in the subject. Jimin had helped him because the younger loved English way more than Jungkook, sitting on his lap while Jungkook took notes of what Jimin read aloud, his free arm right around his waist and head leaning on his soft-clothed shoulder (he had slipped on one of Jungkook’s hoodies) , the boy having stood over for one of their regular sleepovers.

“You seemed to have improved greatly—I’m glad, wouldn’t want our star player out due to grades. I wish I could thank whoever helped you,” She mused as Jungkook flushed at the praise, eyes darting to the watch on his wrist.

 _Crap_ , Jimin was probably—

“Kookie-hyung?” The younger spoke up while peeking his head into the doorway, eyes wide.

Ms. Ingraham perked up at the sight of the boy, Jungkook gesturing with his head to come inside, which he did shyly, the older pulling him into his side with no shame.

“Ah, you’re Jimin Park, right?” The woman asked, lifting her glasses back to her hair. The blonde nodded, avoiding any eye contact, making the Senior smile.

“I’ve heard many good things about you from my coworkers, Mr. Park,” The teacher praised, “Were you the one who helped Mr. Jeon here on his paper on Twelfth Night?”

Jimin nodded again, “Yes ma’am, I did.”

Ms. Ingraham smiled, hands folded on the table top. “So sweet of you, you know, to help your boyfriend here with his schoolwork—it’s certainly a first I’ve seen among students.”

Jungkook nearly broke his neck looking back at his teacher. “B-Boyfriend?” He spluttered, eyes wide with disbelief. Jimin was quiet, and Ms. Ingraham furrowed her brows, tilting her head to the side.

“I’m sorry, aren’t you two dating? I’ve heard so much about it from the students, and even the faculty..”

Jungkook choked, “The _faculty?!”_ I mean, the students were understandable, but even the teacher thought they were dating? Homophobia wasn’t even the problem for Jungkook because if he was being honest, he swung for both teams, but for his closest friend to be portrayed that way…

He didn’t know how to feel about that.

“Um, Kookie-hyung, we have to go, I have cheer practice…”

Jungkook could only nod absently. “Okay...sure, let’s go,”

Jimin pulled on his arm and bid Ms. Ingraham goodbye, who sent a wary smile before picking up her cup of coffee with a tick of her head, the door shut by the floating Jungkook.

The older didn’t say anything nor did Jimin as they walked to the gym, a quick hug exchanged before Jimin scurried off to the stretching girls by the basketball court, Jungkook left walking out of the hallway with a clouded mind.

Dating? Everyone thought he was dating Jimin?

 _That’s ridiculous_ , he thought immediately, stepping outside and beginning his trek to the parking lot.

Sure, he was close to Jimin but that was because Jimin was easy to talk to—he understood everything that Jungkook had boundaries for despite breaking them himself, and he was so sweet and cute and nice and—

_Wait._

_Did_ he like Jimin?

 _No_ , he dismissed the idea faster than he had thought about it, _I would’ve done something about it by now_.

He was so caught up in his mind that he didn’t notice himself bumping into Yugyeom and Jongin, who were loud as per usual. Jungkook blinked and stepped back as the duo stopped, sending wide grins his way.

“Ah, Kook!” Jongin started with a basketball under his arm, shades present on his face. “Where ya going? Forgot about practice today?”

The brunette shook his head. “Nah, I was just heading to my car—left my gear in there,”

“I wonder why,” Yugyeom snickered, head of red hair bright under the spring sun. “Oh wait—I do know why—it’s because you were too busy carrying your boyfriend’s things this morning instead of yours!”

Jungkook tensed—he _did_ carry Jimin’s cheer and dance bags this morning after picking him up from his house and driving him to school. But that shouldn’t mean anything—Jimin would topple over if he carried those things himself! They weighed a shit load (nothing Jungkook couldn’t handle, but this was Jimin, cute small squishy Jimin.)

“Not true, asshole,” He spat out hastily, denying the statement anyway.

Yugyeom gave an unimpressed arch of his brow and Jongin snorted, leaning against Yugyeom.

“Kook you can’t deny what everyone saw, or what everyone sees—you know we’re okay with your boyfriend, he’s cool! And makes us cupcakes after every win, no matter what team it’s on.”

“He’s not my boyfriend though,” Jungkook denied vehemently, eyes hard. Jimin was just a _friend_ , he didn’t know where everyone was getting these ideas from! Maybe he did treat him a bit better than his other friends but that surely meant nothing! Were they jealous or something?

“Sure, and I’m not dating BamBam from the Fashionista Club,” Yugyeom scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Jungkook felt helpless—he wasn’t dating Jimin! It was obvious that they were just friends, right? Why couldn’t anyone see that?

“But I’m not dating him, Gyeom! I’m _not_.”

“You don’t have to deny it, we like him! Plus, if you guys weren’t dating, how come you treat him like you are? He’s the only person besides your mother who can even hug you for longer than 5 seconds!”

Jungkook was about to tear his hair out. “Maybe I just like his hugs, you idiots!” He growled, blood simmering.

Jongin spoke up, “You must like them a lot to be touching him that much—Kook, you hug him and hold his hand nearly every single time I see you guys, not to mention you have _sleepovers_ , go out to eat _together_ , come to school _together_ , shop _together_ with _you_ buying _him_ expensive gifts—should I continue?” The senior asked with a lift of his brow.

Jungkook froze at that, face a bit sheepish.

He _was_ a bit touchy with Jimin, but only because the younger was so squishy and liked it when Jungkook squished his cheeks, even if he wouldn’t voice it. Their sleepovers were a necessary occurrence in their lives now, seeing that one night without Jimin made Jungkook toss and turn with grumbles slipping past his lips at the lack of warm near him. The expensive gifts thing also was something he now did out of habit—whenever he saw Jimin looking at something with sad eyes because he couldn’t afford it, Jungkook would simply just charge it to his parents’ card and pay it off later.

He spoiled Jimin a little more than his other friends, but can you blame him?

I mean, have they even _met_ Jimin?

“Fine just— _watch!_ ” Jungkook huffed angrily, looking around the semi-crowded field.

He spotted Seulgi, his fellow senior on the Tennis team, walking with Irene and Leesin, smirking at Yugyeom and Jongin, who gave him wary looks, before jogging over to the trio, a charming grin already on his features.

“Seulgi! Hey!” He called out, causing the three to stop in their tracks. Seulgi seemed surprised and embarrassed at being called, cheeks flushed and skin glistening with sweat making it obvious that she just finished practicing for her next match, Jungkook keeping a steady gaze with her as he grinned boyishly.

He’ll show those two—no, _everyone_ —that he wasn’t dating Jimin, he’ll show them all right _now_.

“Uh, hi Jungkook,” Seulgi started out unsurely, “Anything you needed?” She seemed nervous, unlike her friends, Leesin hiding a grin and Irene squinting her eyes at him, hair swept back into a ponytail.

“Yeah,” He began smoothly, hands already reaching for his phone. Seulgi seemed confused as he turned his charms up a notch further, lowering his voice to a cool husk that drew a blush from her.

“Your number, house address, and time I should pick you up at for tonight,”

Leesin gasped, eyes wide. “Wait, what? You’re single?!” She nearly screeching, Irene wincing and smacking her arm.

Jungkook laughed, playing it off like if he wasn’t torn between being nervous and shitting himself.

“Of course I am, what did you think?”

“That you were dating Jimin from the cheer—“

“ _Leesin!_ ”

Jungkook’s eye twitched subtly, his grin faltering slightly before he shifted back to Seulgi, who still seemed to be in shock, and gave her hopeful eyes, wondering in the back of his mind if she thought that he was dating Jimin too.

“What do you say? Movies tonight and some dinner? I was thinking Dave-N-Busters,”

Seulgi smiled, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear before taking Jungkook’s phone shyly.

“Sure, see you at 7,”

Jungkook couldn’t have grinned any wider—his proof that he and Jimin weren’t a couple was about to be solid, very solid.

“Great, see you tonight! Bye girls!”

He jogged back to Jongin and Yugyeom, the redhead shaking his head in disbelief as Jongin whistled.

"Didn't know you were so ballsy, Kook," The boy teased, earning a punch to the arm.

"Shut it," Jungkook grunted, storming off to his car. He looked down at his phone to see the contact _Seulgi <3 _on his phone, stomach churning with what he stupidly labeled excitement.

He couldn't wait for tonight.

♡-♡-♡-♡

Jimin was confused.

"Hey, did you hear about Jungkook?"

"No, what is it?"

He was _very, very_ confused.

"Him and Seulgi, really? You didn't hear?"

"No! Tell me!"

From the moment he finished Cheer Practice yesterday after school and Leesin had stared at him with a grimace, he knew something was off.

He had tried to give her a smile, a wave, _something_ to get that look off of her face. But the usually quirky and pepper flier of the squad looked away quickly, earning frowns from both Jennie and Jimin.

"Don't mind her," Jennie reassured, sending him a cutesy smile. Jennie and Jimin had been friends since Freshman year, right after he had given Jungkook Subways and had found the first Korean Freshman in his year in her, the two closer than two peas in a pod.

"Leesin is always weird, you know that."

Jimin nodded but was still hesitant. "But it seems like she's avoiding me? I don't know Nini, she's usually jumping around and stretching with me. Now she looks pained to even stare at me." Jimin chewed on his lower lip, walking out with Jennie from the recreational gym. He spotted the girl staring at him once they reached outside,

Jimin not even getting the chance to lift his hand and wave before she ran off.

"Do you think she's mad at me?" He asked Jennie after that with scared eyes, his best friend cooing.

"Oh please, Min," The girl started while zipping up her sweater. "Leesin doesn't get mad at anyone, not even me when I push her to do better splits. If anything, she's usually like that when she's withholding gossip. You know how big her mouth is."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He muttered while heading to the Sports Gym. He waved Jennie goodbye as he entered to wait for Jungkook.

_I just hope it's not about me._

Then there was this morning when Jungkook picked him up for school at his house. The older usually fussed about the weight Jimin was carrying on his shoulders, literally, and took his bags to the car practically every morning, though he didn’t bother to help him with his dance and cheer bag this time.

He instead sat in his Range Rover with a contemplative look on his face replacing the usual scowl, bothering Jimin down to the very core because in his time of knowing Jungkook, that look usually meant something relating to his love life, something Jimin wasn’t comfortable thinking of.

When he entered school and all eyes were on him, it all confirmed his suspicions.

Someone said something, and it involved him and Jungkook.

How did he know it was about him and Jungkook? _Easy_ , because every corner he turned, everywhere was pointing, staring, and whispering with the names Seulgi, Jimin, Leesin, and Jungkook as he walked by.

It took Jennie to fill him in on what was going on.

"Jungkook took Seulgi out on a date last night," The brunette spoke diligently, right as Jimin sat down for first period English. Never once did Jimin felt his entire world stop like it did then.

_Jungkook...out on a date..._

His eyes widened, not believing what he was hearing as he let his book bag drop to the ground with a dull thud, scooting his chair closer to Jennie's desk.

"What?" He whispered, not wanting to draw any attention to himself.

His hyung, _his_ Kookie-hyung went on a date?

Without telling him?

Sure, he didn’t like talking about Jungkook’s dating life but that didn’t stop Jungkook anytime he went out on a date. Before this, it was a long time since he had dated.

"Who told you this? Is this the reason why everyone keeps staring at me?" He hissed out, eyes blinking rapidly.

Maybe that would explain the look on his face this morning, along with the not helping Jimin with his bags thing. Not to mention that he didn't FaceTime the younger either like he usually did to do their homework together, making the blonde worry then.

Jennie nodded gravelly, her two long pigtails bobbing as she looked around, as if she were trying to hide from someone, and leaned forward, beckoning the boy in front of her to come closer.

"Everyone thinks that Jungkook left you for Seulgi, or that they were dating originally and that you took Jungkook from Seulgi before she stole him back."

Jimin paled.

Him? Take Jungkook away from someone else? What was this, a K-Drama? He could barely get the senior to look at him twice in that way, much to his disappointment, much less take him from anyone else. Of course, that hadn't really been a problem before—Jungkook was always with him before, and Jimin liked that.

And maybe he liked Jungkook too.

Just a little bit.

Or maybe a lot.

Okay, so he may or not be in love with his hyung, but there’s no way he’s going to say that aloud! Especially not now.

Jennie placed a warm hand on top of Jimin's and patted it gently, squeezing it comfortingly not too soon after. Of course his best friend knew about his pathetic crush on his beloved hyung. Honestly, who else but Jungkook himself didn't? Even the teachers, according to yesterday, knew about it due to Jimin's obvious lovey-dovey behavior. What else could it have been? Jungkook always treats him like another friend anyway, or so he thinks..

Do normal friends cuddle and wear each other's hoodies?

Jimin didn't know.

"My sources say that none were exactly confirmed, but they all came from one person." Jennie continued, much like a reporter. Jimin slumped over her desk, not believing that he was being plastered onto the school's social spectrum as a man-stealer.

"Who?" He asked dejectedly, eyes drooping. His mind flashed to yesterday, during cheer after school and he shot up, eyes going from sad to desperate. "Please don't say Leesin, Nini, _please_ ,"

The girl promptly shut her mouth.

Jimin groaned, slumping down onto Jennie's desk once more. "Seriously?! No wonder she was avoiding me during cheer yesterday! I told you she was being weird.." He pouted, hiding behind his arms. Jennie quickly leaned forward and rubbed his back, a pout of her own forming on her small lips.

"It's okay, Min—well, not really because all of the school must know but hey! At least you'll never have to deal with the mortification of your crush getting out!"

"But now I can never get him!" Jimin whimpered, cowering in his bright yellow Stussy hoodie. Oh wait, nevermind, it wasn't his. It was Jungkook's—he took it from his closet (this was like the 37th hoodie Jimin has stolen) during their last sleepover and his hyung didn't mind, only laughed and called him cute before going back to doing his Pre-Calculus homework.

He had to go into the bathroom for like five minutes in order to calm down after that.

Oh lord, did Jimin have it _bad_.

He’s had it bad ever since that day they met, when Jimin was too busy thinking of what he was going to do friend-wise because some girls had already teased him for being too girly for a guy while he arrived late for his first class of the year, much to his embarrassment. He remembered bumping into Jungkook and fear striking his heart as lunch meat sloshed onto the expensive labels he wore, the whispers of Jimin’s oncoming doom making his eyes water.

He was ready to be ridiculed again when Jungkook looked up with the deadliest glare Jimin had ever seen in his fourteen years (at the time) of living, bursting into fat tears and looking away because _jesus_ , Jungkook’s looks could kill with the intensity they held.

Jimin didn’t know that one gesture of nonchalance could get him to fall in love at first sight so quickly, but when Jungkook smiled at him then gave a wink Jimin didn’t know that he would see more often, his heart papilated wildly. The Junior that he was probably meant to never see again appearing in his life more after he found out his name and gave him a lunch from Subways as an apology before more random occurrences caused them to see more of each, Jungkook then taking the initiative to see more of Jimin on his free time, when he didn’t have to.

Their time together was always weird, Jimin knew that. He found out that Jungkook was touchy about dirt and dirty people around him from his family when he went over for the first time and gave the elder a huge hug after a mud fight with one of his cousins during Jungkook’s family barbeque, the boy not flinching one bit as he chuckled and gave the younger a hug back, the wide eyes of his family funny enough to rouse a giggle from Jimin.

His hyung always stuck by him in school and out of school, always took him out when Jimin said he was bored and spoiled the younger with things Jimin thought he discreetly eyed whenever they strolled through the mall after watching a movie for their weekly trips, going as far as to buy Jimin a custom golden bracelet for his birthday.

“ _K-Kookie-hyung,_ ” He remembered shocking out, eyes watering with tears as Jungkook presented the jewelry to him with a smile, the nickname “Mini-Minnie” engraved on the bracelet in cursive, the present being one that Jimin treasured with all of his heart.

“ _Happy birthday, Jimin. I hope that you stay short this year too!_ ”

Jungkook then got into the habit of teasing Jimin about his height, often tossing him over his shoulder on the lazy summer days where Jimin went to his house, putting things in his room that Jimin often reached for on high shelves, resting his elbow on his head with a sneaky smirk.

Their sleepovers became another regular thing along with the regular trips to the mall and movies together, along with the regular FaceTime calls they made to each other everyday. It included a lot of cuddles and shrieks of laughter whenever they couldn’t sleep and Jungkook chased Jimin until he was cornered, Jungkook then grabbing him shamelessly by the waist and throwing him into the pool.

“ _C-Cold, hyung!_ ” He squealed when he resurfaced, wearing only short pajama bottoms and an oversized band shirt. Jungkook would cackle out a laugh before trapping him in a hug, much to Jimin’s dismay with the excess water seeping into his clothes before he shrieked when Jungkook would pull them back underwater.

“ _Hyung, I’m going to get sick!_ ” Jimin would whine with his hair pressed to his forehead, struggling to escape the built boy’s arms.

“ _Hyung will take care of you,_ ” He would comment with a smirk before lifting Jimin up and dunking him down into the water, swimming away when the smaller would pop up with a glare directed his way.

“ _I’m going to kill you!_ ” Jimin would scream while Jungkook would sprint back into the house, throwing a taunting “ _Try it, shortie!_ ” behind him.

The cuddling part would be when Jungkook would finish hand-drying Jimin’s hair with a towel and would pull him for a hug with a million apologies spilling past his lips, tucking them under his thick blanket.

“ _Do you forgive hyung?_ ”

“ _Of course I do, meanie._ ”

He became a cheerleader when his best friend Jennie suggested it and Jungkook was ecstatic for him, defending him against the people who questioned why he wore the female uniform rather than the male one, even going as far to defend him against Yugyeom, who Jimin loved but who _also_ didn’t have a filter when it came to certain things, like when the older called him way too girly for a guy.

“ _You didn’t have to do that, Kookie-hyung,_ ” Jimin would later try to reassure him when he sat on the older’s bathroom counter, Jungkook gently wiping away the makeup on his eyelids.

He frowned, “ _If I didn’t, he would’ve kept doing it and you’ll keep thinking bad about yourself. I don’t want that,_ ”

Their friendship was definitely different than any other Jimin’s had. They were closer than regular friends, and whenever Jimin was sad or wanted to cry, Jungkook would always be there no matter the time or the place to scoop him up into his arms with a tight hug and reassuring words, more often than not sitting on Jimin’s bedroom floor and painting his nails for him when he was feeling really bad, singing softly to the younger’s request because Jungkook could definitely sing, better than anyone else Jimin’s heard.

It was always hard to tell if Jungkook felt something for him because he knew that the boy was bisexual but at the same time there was always the behavior he gave that showed that Jimin was nothing but a friend in his eyes, and this date that he went on without notice to the younger was one of them that made him realize yet again that he was nothing, absolutely nothing but a _friend_ to him.

“My lovely bitches,” He heard a familiarly deep voice start up, away from him, Jimin’s arms covering his face. “I have graced you with both my presence and my slayed face, you’re welcome.”

Jennie gave the boy sitting next to them a smile, “Hey Tae,” She said to the second male cheerleader on her squad. The three of them were all best friends since their freshman year, and Taehyung knew about his pathetic crush on his hyung too, “Min’s not feeling too well, I’m guessing you heard about it, you being the social butterfly you are,”

Taehyung’s eyebrows furrowed, eyes lined with kohl and his eyelids sporting a clean cut wing, his tawny hair curled up cutely. “No, what’s going?” He asked, putting his bag on his desk. “Did Jimin have another freakout involving Jungkook? No! _Wait_ , oh my god, did he _finally_ ask you out, Min?”

The blonde lifted his head with a frown, “I wish,” He pouted, looking down at the yellow sleeves of the stolen sweater, “He asked out someone else instead. Seulgi? from the tennis team?”

Taehyung’s eyes widened, “Oh Min,” He cooed immediately, joining Jennie and rubbing a hand up and down his back, “I’m sorry, I was sure that he liked you. Yoongi said that he’s always talking about you,”

Jimin pouted, “Yeah because we’re close friends,” He whined, thumping his head into his arms, “I was stupid to think that I was something more than a friend to him. Now look, he’s with a pretty _girl_ who isn’t ridiculed for wearing a skirt and I’m portrayed as either a side bitch or a lonely sophomore,”

“Don’t say that, you know that Jungkook would let people think that for long,” Taehyung reassured his smaller friend, Jennie trying next when Jimin whimpered at the mention of the older boy’s name.

“Min, come on, you could always look on the bright side. Seulgi is a nice girl, she won’t hurt Jungkook, and she won’t do something stupid and try to push you out of his life,”

“But now he won’t have time for _me_ , Nini,” Jimin lifted his head with his nose red, eyes glistening. He might’ve sounded needy, But Jimin didn’t care. No one understood how in love he was with Jungkook, it was too much to put into words.

He could lose everything and everyone _but_ his Kookie-Hyung.

“It’s already started, and once he falls in love with her,” Jimin had to stop and bite his lip, looking down at his legging-covered thighs with incredibly sad eyes, shoulders shaking with the sobs he was holding in.

“When he f-falls in love with her,” He repeated, a bit more broken than before because he knew the truth, he wasn’t going to lie, “I’ll be another _boy_ to him, another person he hangs out with,”

“Jimin—”

“Tell Mr. Kwon that I’ll be late,” He choked out while standing up, scrambling for his bag. Taehyung and Jennie watched as the boy practically ran out of the classroom, Jimin bursting out into the emptying hallway with tears streaming down his face, no doubt ruining his makeup, the blonde rushing down towards the bathroom.

“Hey!” He heard as he bumped into a figure taller than him. Looking up, he saw it was Yugyeom and Jongin, Jungkook’s friends, staring at him, Jongin’s eyes widening at the boy’s messy face before Jimin flushed in embarrassment and ducked his head, mumbling out in apology before going around them and running into the bathroom, Yugyeom having turned with a slack jaw to follow the boy’s figure.

“No way, you don’t he’s crying because of Seulgi, right? Kook didn’t actually do it, right?” The boy asked Jongin in disbelief, who was pulling out his phone.

“I don’t know,” The blonde huffed, typing out a text to Yoongi, “But we have to find that idiot, I can’t believe he went this far to prove a point,”

The two seniors turned and walked off, Jimin in the bathroom with his hands pressed to his eyes, unaware of the conversation that went out just outside the bathroom doors, stifling cries with an aching chest because Jungkook would never love him.

He wouldn’t ever love Jimin the way Jimin loved him.

♡-♡-♡-♡

Jungkook got the text during English, but didn’t read it until lunch.

**Kai**

_You’re a dumbass._

He didn’t get it because usually when Jongin called him a name it was jokingly and filled with emojis, not so dry like this one was, and Jungkook was even more confused when Yoongi fixed him a glare from across the cafeteria where he sat with his boyfriends Taehyung and Hoseok, both of them comforting the sulking boy that Jungkook knew was Jimin’s best friend along with Jennie.

Which reminded him, he hadn’t seen Jimin since this morning when they parted for their classes, and ever since then, and he had been earning weird looks from everyone around him, and currently, Jongin and Yugyeom were staring at him accusingly when he sat down outside at their usual table.

“What?” Jungkook snipped, opening his Gatorade. “First Yoongi, now you two. What’s the deal with everyone? And where the fuck is Jimin?”

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” Yugyeom sneered, “I thought you would’ve, you moron. I can’t believe that you went that far to prove a point, you have no idea what you just did.”

Jungkook felt his blood boil, “What the fuck are you talking about?” He growled just as a group of girls approached the table, Seulgi amongst the bunch.

Instantly, Jungkook gave her a charming grin, remembering the night they had in Dave-N-Busters out in town, their night ending with a shy kiss from the girl before Jungkook took over and made it something a bit _more_ , the memories of it obviously making the female senior blush while looking at Jungkook.

“Um, Hi, Jungkook,” She started while Jongin stared at her, eyes squinted, “I just wanted to say thank you for last night, and I was wondering if you’d want to do it again?” Seulgi seemed hopeful with Irene, Wendy, Leesin, Yeri, and Joy behind her, the girls watching interested as Jungkook smirked, ready to respond.

“I’d love—”

“ _No_ , sorry, he _can’t_ and he _won’t_ ,” Yugyeom interrupted briskly, face blank, “I don’t know what _you_ heard, but he’s taken. This _idiot_ was just trying to prove a point,”

Seulgi’s face visibly fell, “Oh...really?” She sounded disappointed and Jungkook saw red, glaring at Yugyeom with a hiss.

“No, I _wasn’t_ ,” He pushed past his teeth, “I actually like you Seulgi, and I’ll be happy to take you out on a date,”

“Stop spitting _bullshit_ !” Jongin snapped, hands flat on the table, “Look Seulgi, you’re a nice girl and you deserve someone as nice as you, but it can’t be Jungkook. He likes Jimin, _you know_ , the sophomore,”

_Not this again._

“I don’t, Jongin, stop _it!_ ” He hissed out, leveling his friend a nasty look. He didn’t know where this Jimin nonsense was coming from again. He was trying to show everyone that they weren’t together and didn’t like each other whatsoever by going out with Seulgi. He enjoyed the date, Seulgi enjoyed the date—wasn’t that enough proof that he _obviously_ wasn’t into Jimin?

Leesin decided to step up, lips pursed. “But he said they weren’t dating yesterday,” Her tone was accusing and Jungkook felt his patience thinning, Yugyeom scoffing.

“Please, you believed that shit?” The basketball player rested his cheek in his palm while fixing the gossip a glare, “Everyone knows how close they are, and I don’t think he owes anyone an explanation, especially not you, Leesin. I heard what you told people, way to spin a story,”

The girl flushed and stepped back, Seulgi taking the time to speak up again.

“So, you don’t like me like that?” She asked, Jungkook’s patience finally running out. He growled and stood out with a slam of his hands on the table.

“ _I do!_ ” This was just getting ridiculous now, “I’m not dating Jimin, I don’t even like him that, I never will, and _he’s just_ _some_ _sophomore!_ ”

Everyone was silent and Jongin fixed his lethal glare onto Jungkook along with Yugyeom, Jungkook blinking and realizing that all of the outside cafeteria was silent, and he heard the quietest of sniffles that had him spinning around, coming face to face with a small Jimin wearing a what seemed to be heartbroken expression, face filled with smudges of makeup as his eyes shined with tears.

Jungkook felt his stomach pool up with regret at the look on the younger’s face, “Minnie—“ He stopped when the younger dully tossed him a bag that was filled with the usual banana muffin, arms pulling on the hoodie he had on fiercely.

A hoodie he stole from Jungkook.

“ _This one’s my favorite,_ ” The younger beamed as he danced around in the large sweater that reached his thighs, socked feet sliding against the floor.

Jungkook had chuckled when the younger slid to where he was standing, a mischievous smirk on his face. He didn’t even care that it was his favorite sweater that Jimin had set out to steal, only focusing on how it looked like on Jimin.

“ _Good luck getting it back,”_ Jimin stage-whispered, hands resting themselves on Jungkook’s shoulders. He remembered wanting to lean closer, so he did, resisting the urge to wrap his arms tight around Jimin’s waist at the same time. _“because I’ll keep this one forever!_ ”

The sweater hit his body like a boulder with the strong throw Jimin gave.

“I’m sorry,” Jungkook tried, forgetting about his friends and Seulgi behind him, “I didn’t mean it, Minnie, please, I didn’t,” He followed Jimin with his sweater clutched in his hands, the younger left in only leggings and a soft white t-shirt, hand pressed to his eyes.

“Leave me alone,” He choked out, steps getting faster. The broken tone of the younger made Jungkook swear _wildly_ in his mind, forgetting about Seulgi since they were in the indoor cafeteria by now, and the older managed to catch his arm and spin him around, his chest aching at the sight of a teary eyed Jimin with frowning lips, shoulders shaking with the cries he held in.

“Min-ah,” Jungkook tried gently, mouth dry because he didn’t _fucking_ mean it, he was just being hot-headed and didn’t know what to do since Jimin was crying over him, and he usually comforted him when he was crying about something or someone else.

“I didn’t know that’s how you felt about me, Jungkook,” Jimin’s voice was wobbly and the use of his full name had Jungkook feeling nervous. Jimin’s never really called him that, _ever_. Not even when they were in public places and had to call out his name if they ever got separated.

“I-It’s good to know the truth though, I’ll stay out of your way.” Jimin chewed down on his lips and gave Jungkook the most lifeless smile he had ever received, voice unsteady.

“I’m just some sophomore, right?”

“Minnie, no,” Jungkook tightened his grip when Jimin tried pulling away, bringing him closer to his body. He didn’t know that he would hurt the younger with his words—no, wait, that’s a lie. Jungkook could hurt anyone with those words—he basically just said that Jimin was a nobody to him, when really, it was the opposite of that. Jungkook just wanted to prove a point though. He wanted everyone off of his back about liking his best friend.

He was being stupid and dumb and now is that he’s realizing this, when Jimin’s crying over him and he looks cute enough for Jungkook to cuddle—

“I didn’t mean any of that, I was just mad.” The blonde looked down at his feet and Jungkook sighed.

“You’re not just any sophomore, you’re my best friend,” He tried, obviously choosing the wrong choice of words as Jimin ripped away from him like his touch would burn his skin, facial expression something akin to being heartbroken.

 _Again_.

“I don’t _want_ to be, Jungkook,” The whole cafeteria was looking at their fiasco at this point, and Jongin and Yugyeom were starting to approach cautiously while Jennie and Taehyung did the same, Jimin’s sobs now heard to the cafeteria as he shoved his hands to his eyes.

“I’m so fucking head over heels for you,” He confessed with a rare swear, “I thought you felt the same way, but you _obviously_ don’t and I’m embarrassed to death now, so I hope you’re happy with Seulgi. She seems like a nice girl,”

Jungkook was frozen.

Jimin...Jimin likes _him?_

Head over heels?

This was a joke right? A hidden camera or something?

He turned around to Jongin and Yugyeom, who gave him ‘ _I told you so_ ’ looks with pursed lips, Jungkook turning to see Jimin in the arms of Jennie and Taehyung, the boy sending him a deadly glare.

Jimin was in love with him?

 _“Kookie-hyung, am I pretty?_ ” Jimin asked from the older’s bathroom, standing in front of his wide mirror just as Jungkook pulled on a tank top, bathroom warm from the shower he had taken. The athlete had paused to see Jimin frowning at his reflection, small fingers running over the bumps of acne on his face before biting his lip, arms circling his torso.

 _“Yeah,”_ Jungkook had answered with a frown of his own, standing behind the smaller with his arms coming to wrap around the other’s lithe frame, covering Jimin’s small arms. _“You’re beautiful, Jimin. I wish you would see that.”_

The then pink-haired Freshman flushed a bright red as Jungkook rested his chin on his head, already sweating due to the summer heat. Jungkook didn’t think anything of it as Jimin turned around cutely in a waddle, returning Jungkook’s hug with all the strength he could muster.

 _“Thanks, Kookie-hyung,”_ He mumbled into Jungkook’s shirt, preening silently at the fingers in his hair. Jungkook smiled as the younger burrowed into him with his cheeks squished against Jungkook’s chest, saying his last words in a whisper.

_“It means more than you know to hear that from you.”_

Jimin was in love with him.

And Jungkook….

“ _Hyung~_ ” Jimin smiled while sitting in his backyard, upper body shirtless and body soaked with water. His legs were submerged in the pool Jungkook had in his backyard, hair in dripping waves with water falling from it and onto his thighs, hitting his purple swim trunks as Jungkook swam to him.

Jimin smiled, looking ethereal while holding a sparkler Jungkook’s younger brother Junghyun had offered him for the fourth of July celebration they were having. He beckoned the elder closer with one hand on the grass behind him, head tilted to the side. Jungkook grinned lazily, resting his arms on Jimin’s legs and looking up at the younger boy.

“ _Yes, Minnie?_ ”

Jungkook was pretty sure that he was in love him too.

_Shit._

“Minnie—“ Jungkook moved forward and Jennie growled, tightening her arms around the smaller.

“Please don’t call me that,” Jimin said weakly, face buried in Jennie’s soft sweater. He was still visibly shaking if the hiccups and gasps he let out gave Jungkook any indication. “I’m Jimin from 10A from now on, Jungkook. I hope you have nice second date with Seulgi, I’ll return your sweaters with someone a-and _here_ ,”

Jimin fussed with the golden bracelet around his wrist before taking it off, tossing it weakly to his feet.

Jungkook felt something in him ache _horribly._

“You can keep that,” Jimin whispered miserably.

Jungkook watched brokenly as the younger was steered away by Jennie and Taehyung, Jongin and Yugyeom coming to his sides as he blankly stared at the yellow sweater in his hands, not realizing that his grip was tightening with every passing second.

“Jimin,” He mumbled, the cafeteria slowly buzzing alive again as he bent down to pick up the golden bracelet, heart hurting. Jungkook felt his chest ache to the point where he couldn’t breathe and he knew why a bit too late, eyes unfocusing as his friends sighed.

“People are calling him a slut,” Jongin spoke suddenly, hands shoved in his pockets, “Leesin spit some shit about your date, and people either think that you left him or that he took you from Seulgi in the first place. Me and Gyeom bumped into him this morning, he was a _mess_ ,”

Jungkook whipped his head up, “What?” He sounded incredulous and his face was contorted into something _nasty_ , Jongin grimacing and looking away.

“Yeah,” Yugyeom glared at Jungkook, not afraid of his friend of eight years, “His face was stained with makeup like he was crying and on our way to class, and I heard about six different bitches call him a whore or a sad case.”

“What the fuck,” Jungkook had to push the words past his teeth and didn’t even give Yugyeom time to respond, turning on his heel and stomping back outside. Jongin and Yugyeom followed, already knowing what this sudden anger meant, Jungkook throwing his hoodie down on the table as he glared at Leesin.

“You,” He pointed a straight finger at the small girl, Leesin shrinking into her skirt.

Jungkook sounded feral, “What the fuck did you say about Jimin?” He spat out, knowing he had no right to after hurting the boy just moments ago. Maybe it was just an instinct by now, by Jungkook didn’t mind it.

Seulgi blinked in shock and turned to Leesin, eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute,” She sounded accusatory, “You were the one who started the ‘Jimin-The-Homewrecker’ shit?”

Jungkook’s veins bulged and Jongin jumped to pull back on his arm.

“The what?” He got mad often, got annoyed, got upset, and even threw tantrums. But Jungkook never got angry like he was now, never wanted to just hurt someone so badly that they couldn’t see the light of day even if they had their eyes open.

He had _never_ wanted to hurt a female in general nor had he wanted to hurt someone so bad before, but currently, he was so _close_ to doing so that it was scary, incredibly scary, to the point where tears sprung in Leesin’s eyes as she sputtered out pathetic excuses, Yugyeom and Jongin still holding him back.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Leesin was quick to say, standing beside Joy, quaking in his tennis shoes. “I only said that you asked out Seulgi and wasn’t dating Jimin anymore!”

“We were never dating,” Jungkook pushed past his teeth, hands flat on the table. Leesin pushed herself towards Joy with a gulp, avoiding Jungkook’s dark stare. Seulgi crossed her arms and gave Leesin a disapproving look. The girl always hated gossip, she was one of the only few girls that Jungkook knew like that.

The boy scowled, “If you knew how to keep your fucking mouth shut, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” He growled out. “Aren’t you his fucking team member? What type of _bullshit_ —”

Jongie pulled on his shirt sleeve, “Let her be, Kook,” He said warningly. Jongin certainly wasn’t defending the girl because it served her right for being such a big mouth, but at the same time, he couldn’t let Jungkook scare her this bad.

“Fucking hell,” He jerked away Jongin and sat himself down on the table once more. His blood was boiling and his chest ached and Jungkook knew that everything was his fault. His stupid words that he didn’t even fucking mean hurt Jimin and now he wanted to hurt himself for doing such a thing. Sweet Jimin was someone Jungkook would’ve never and had never imagined hurting ever since they had first met, even if it wasn’t under the best circumstances.

“Jungkook,” Seulgi spoke up, resting a hand on his shoulder. The boy was distraught, looking up miserably to the girl who stared back at him in determination. Yugyeom and Jongin stood by watching her carefully, Joy and Yeri going up to stand next to her while Irene and Wendy led Leesin away from the table. It didn’t stop the three senior boys from shooting the cheerleader a dirty look before their attention was brought back to Seulgi.

“You can get him back,” She said firmly, removing her hand from Jungkook’s shoulder to cutely pound it into her open palm. Jungkook raised a skeptical brow since he had just gone out with the girl and wouldn’t expect her help, especially not after she had been associating with the reason why Jimin was crying just minutes ago. “You and Jimin are close, right? He’ll forgive you if you do things the right way.”

“How? And why do you even want to help me?” He asked pathetically, sounding nothing like the confident senior he usually was. “I literally used you—sorry for that, by the way, you’re a really nice girl and a really nice kisser too if anything.”

Seulgi shook her head, “Thanks and no offense taken, although, I do want some credit when I help you with this as some recompense for wasting my time,” She pursed her lips and took a seat across from Jungkook, “Jimin is really just the sweetest thing ever—he didn’t deserve what Leesin did and he sure as hell didn’t deserve to hear his crush call him nothing to him, so, I want to help.”

Jungkook lowered his head to rest it on the bundled yellow fabric of the Stussy hoodie Jimin returned to him, the golden bracelet the younger (well, used to) wear everyday between his fingers, the sugary scent of Jimin’s favorite Victoria Secret perfume swirling in his nose evilly, causing him to briefly pout.

“I didn’t mean to call him that,” He mumbled, cheek squished on his arms. “Jimin is everything to me, probably more—sucks I realized it too late. He left only a couple minutes ago and I already miss him.” He heard Joy coo at him while Yugyeom called him an idiot, Seulgi’s eyes lighting up with mirth.

“You really are an idiot,” Seulgi hummed, leaning forward, “That only make me want to help you get your baby back even more.”

“And this time,” Yugyeom shuffled over to give Jungkook a playful nudge, “Try to think before you speak, yeah?”

Jungkook hates his friends

But he was sure that there was something for the younger in his heart—that there was something there, something that showed that he liked—no, loved? Jimin with all of his heart.

“Whatever shitface—let’s get Minnie back.”

♡-♡-♡-♡

Jimin fucked up.

“God Nini, he must hate me for real now,” The blonde sniffled, cuddling into his blankets with Jennie at his side. Taehyung was spooning him from behind, all of them dressed in their best jammies for the impromptu sleepover that involved ice cream, the notebook, and many boxes of Kleenex from the pantry.

Jennie scoffed, her hair in a messy bun as she wrapped her arms around Jimin’s middle, “You shouldn’t worry about that, Min—you should be hating him!” She huffed, Taehyung humming in agreement.

“Right, he was the dick here,” The other boy said with a cluck of his tongue, a fuzzy headband pushing his hair out of his face. Jimin pouted as he rubbed the wrist where his bracelet would always be, missing the jingling charms and stupid message Jungkook had engraved on there.

In fact, he missed Jungkook, despite being the one to remove him from his life just hours ago. After the cafeteria fiasco, Jennie and Taehyung somehow got permission for them to leave school early and return to the Park Residence, where Jimin’s mother coddled him while his friends went out to get their things and return.

He regretted leaving and causing such a fuss, but there wasn’t much he could now, could he?

“Don’t think so hard about it, Chim,” Taehyung looked down at his with a barefaced pout, fuzzy headband drawing all of Jimin’s attention. The blonde nodded with a hesitant hum, curling in deeper into himself.

“I know, I’m trying,” He whispered. Jimin let his eyes close briefly and he pictured his favorite night he had spent a night at Jungkook’s. He saw himself running around the house as per usual, giggles overflowing out of his mouth before shrieks pushed them away as Jungkook caught up to him, grabbing him by the waist and throwing him over his shoulder in the quiet of his backyard, Jimin’s legs cutely kicking in protest as Jungkook ran around with him.

 _“Not the pool again, not the pool,”_ Jimin squealed, wriggling as Jungkook neared his luxurious in-ground pool. The older cackled, moving away from the pool to Jimin’s relief, only to have him screaming again when Jungkook took off in its direction.

“ _Hyung!”_ He shrieked when Jungkook jumped, when he lost grip of his hyung and soared into the pool alone, soaking his hoodie and cotton shorts.

Jimin resurfaced with a splutter and hands wiping at his eyes, feeling Jungkook come up behind him and wrap his arms around his waist gently.

“ _Happy birthday, Minnie,”_ The older had said breathlessly, tucking his head between Jimin’s shoulder and neck. The blonde bit down a large smile, shifting to turn and hug Jungkook back, arms hooking around his neck.

“ _Thank you, Kookie.”_

Jimin sighed when he opened his eyes, glassy with tears as Jennie switched off the light. Music from outside streamed faintly through his window kept open with a protective screen to keep the bugs out, Taehyung curling his body around him tighter.

“Sleep tight, okay Chim?” The younger sighed gently. Jimin whimpered out a response, Jennie shushing him with a soft kiss to the forehead and her hands working through his hair.

“I love you guys,” He choked out, sniffling pathetically.

The two friends held him tight, sighing in synchronization.

“We love you too, babe.”

Jimin dreamt of bunny smiles that night.

♡-♡-♡-♡

Over the next few days, Jimin could say that things returned to “normal.”

For one, people stopped spreading the rumor about him being a man stealer and instead came up to him apologizing, complimenting him, and inviting him to the usual parties and get-together they did before.

Cheer practice went on without a hitch too, especially since Jennie was the team captain. His best friend didn’t let anyone say anything about the cafeteria incident and even gave them a very thorough talk on how spreading rumors about your teammates was a very serious matter with severe consequences.

When Jimin returned to Cheer, Leesin has ended up apologizing tearfully, which melted his already weak heart. He loved the girl, really, and he knew about her big mouth—he knew that Leesin would never purposely start up any drama, so he let bygones be bygones and stretched with her.

He had been hesitant to actually start packing up all of the things he had taken from Jungkook’s closet, mostly because _1_ ) it was harder than he had thought it would be and _2_ ) he had taken a lot more than he had thought.

His closet was filled with hoodies, sweatshirts, basketball shorts, t-shirts, and even a formal dress shirt (Jimin thinks back to the fall formal during his freshman year, where punch spilled on his shirt and Jungkook gave him his black one and stood in his Football jersey instead) that belonged solely to Jungkook, that smelt of Jungkook’s natural vanilla cinnamon scent and that made Jimin shut his closet faster than he could blink.

Taehyung offered to help him clean the closet out but Jimin refused, saying that they had no time with their school’s basketball finals approaching so rapidly and cheer practice getting fiercer than before.

The finals would be where Jimin would Jungkook again after what, two weeks? He hadn’t even seen the older in the halls, ducking his head whenever he saw Kai, Yugyeom, or Yoongi, skipping lunch in favor of staying in the dance room with his Hoseok and another close friend of his named Momo, dancing until he was drenched in sweat and had the benefit of taking a shower during his after lunch and last period gym class. The thought of seeing Jungkook at the basketball finals made his stomach churn nervously, especially since after the finals, Graduation for the seniors was only a week later.

Currently, he was readying himself for the final game alone. Usually, Jungkook would be here, tying his shoes and helping him tie his hair, but he wasn’t, so Jimin was doing it alone.

His mother helped him with his hair, did a cute waterfall braid with the two small sections of his hair, his choppy bangs parted and falling just above his perfectly sculpted brow, thin ribbons woven through his braids and tied in a tight bow at the end of his braids.

He had worked diligently on his makeup as per usual, perfecting his shimmery golden lids and faint eyeliner with a steady hand, adding a bit of highlight to his cheeks nose before swiping on raspberry lip gloss. Jennie had their uniforms changed because of the summer weather and now instead of high socks and fitted turtlenecks, Jimin wore a white short-sleeved jersey with the words _Port Richmond Cheer Squad_ in blocky letters on the front of it, his last name and preferred number, 13, on the back with red shorts that went down only to his mid-upper thighs on his legs, white tennis shoes on his feet.

All that was left of him was to put on his accessories, rings excluded due to the flipping he would have to do during halftime. Jimin opened the small glass box he used to store his jewelry in, flipping the lid open and his nimble finger clicking his small hoops and studs into the six holes in his ears. Jungkook had eight because that boy has some kind of obsession with his ears ( _“I like how they look on me, that’s all.”_ ) and he had gifted most of the golden things in Jimin’s jewelry box to him since the younger was more silver biased.

Jimin hummed in self-appreciation when he finished with his ears, going for his favorite _‘Angel’_ necklace next. The next thing to put on would’ve been his birthday bracelet, but he no longer had it since it resides with it’s true owner now. It made his throat clog up briefly before Jihyun gratefully stepped into his room, looking annoyed as ever.

Great, Jimin must’ve taken too long.

“You done yet, midget?” Jimin’s older brother asked, irritated. The blonde huffed in annoyance, standing from his vanity stool and moving to grab his Cheer track jacket and phone.

“I am, so calm down,” He grumbled, swiping his keys from his dresser. Jungkook was the one to drive them to all of their games together but Jimin's only choice, if he didn’t want to sweat out his hair or his makeup walking, was Jihyun, his _annoying_ older brother.

Jihyun sighed, turning away and stepping out of the doorway, “Hurry it up then, I haven't got all day.” He left after that brief comment and Jimin stuck up both of his middle fingers at his back, nails coated in a shiny red polish.

“Love you too!” Jihyun called out, already knowing what Jimin was doing behind his back. He rolled his eyes as he watched Jihyun clomp down the stairs, holding his phone tightly as he shut his room door.

Jimin followed his brother’s path hurriedly, giving his parents a quick kiss on the cheek each before reaching Jihyun outside, hopping in the passenger seat just as the car was brought to life.

“Seatbelts,” The older chimes in dutifully, reversing out of their driveway. Jimin clicked the strap in gently, leaning back in his seat as Jihyun drove. Once the radio was turned on, Jimin rolled his eyes while digging out his headphones in his pocket, plugging them into his ears with the vibrating bass of Jihyun’s “music” shaking his body.

Jungkook preferred that kind of music too, the loud kind. He said it was particularly good for exercising but Jimin always heard screaming and a cacophony of instruments.

He clucked his tongue when he realized that he was thinking about Jungkook again and focused his eyes out of the window. He was feeling jittery since he would be seeing Jungkook again and tried to focus on something, anything else, picking at his nails.

His phone chimed, interrupting Selena Gomez briefly before it played again at full blast.

**Jendeukie**

_Don’t freak out, I know you, Min_

_Treat today as any other day, okay?_

Seen 4:19

Jimin smiled as he read the message, bring his phone closer to type a response.

**Minteokkie**

_Thanks Nini, I’ll try_

_Do you think that he’s as nervous as me?_

_Probably not, he’s probably forgotten about me by now_

_Nevermind I can’t do this ;(_

Seen 4:21

**Jendeukie**

_Don’t you dare chicken out on me_

_Forget about that dick for now_

_We have to out-cheer those Joffery High bitches_

_I love you Min but this game determines my spot on JV cheer_

Seen 4:23

**Minteokkie**

_Ugh, fine_

_I’ll try to do great_

_I really do hate those joffery bitches_

Seen 4:25

**Jendeukie**

_That’s da spirit bitch_

_Now hurry up_

_Taehyungie just got here and i need some help cutting his ass_

Seen 4:27

**Minteokkie**

_Got it, jihyun’s taking me now_

_I’m so nervous_

_See you in a bit nini <3 _

Seen 4:29

“Yah, stop texting, we’re here.” The car stopped and Jimin looked up, ripping a headphone out of his ear and finding that in all that time texting Jennie (while simultaneously playing Gardenscapes to calm his nerves), they had reached the school parking lot.

“Oh,” Jimin said softly, unclicking his seatbelt. Jihyun was already out of the car, waiting for Jimin to exit before locking it and shoving his keys into his pocket.

“Bye,” Jihyun said breezily, heading toward the main entrance. Athletes and Cheerleaders had to go through the gym entrance, “Do good out there, Min.”

Jihyun patted his head and Jimin smiled before swatting his hand away. He watched the older stalk off before turning on his heel, skipping toward the gym entrance. On his way, he saw people with the school’s colors painted on their face, some of his classmates and upperclassmen greeting him before he swiftly entered the large gymnasium, the thundering sound of hip-hop music filling his ears.

“Min!” The blonde whipped his head to see Jennie waving at him, her hair in cute fishnet braid that reached her mid back, face shining with sparkles. Jimin smiled and waved back, jogging to catch up to her while also waving to Taehyung, who shot him a boxy smile.

“Hey,” Jimin said breathlessly. They exchanged quick hugs and Taehyung squeezed him extra tight, pulling back to stare at him with crescent eyes.

“You look amazing, Min!” He praised Jimin shamelessly and the blonde blushed, thwacking his shoulder shyly. Jennie smiled fondly at the two of them before clapping, calling the attention of the rest of the cheerleaders as people began to trickle into the gym.

“Alright,” The small girl pounded a fist into her open palm, “Listen up—it’s the last game of the basketball season and it’s against our utmost rivals, the Joffery bitches from Port James. I don’t want anyone slacking on the court, okay? You cheer until you can’t cheer no more, bitches—we’re going to give it our all.”

The girls and guys, counting Jimin and Taehyung, cheered at the small speech. Jennie put her hand in the middle, calling for a quick group chant.

“PRSC, We’re the team to beat!”

When their hands went up in the air, Jimin watched everyone disperse into doing some quick individual stretches. The coach had called Jennie over, looking distressed, Taehyung too busy prepping himself for Yoongi to notice Jimin. The small boy sighed and decided to do some individual stretches of his own, letting his legs slowly open to drop down into an easy middle split.

The gym was full by the time Jimin had done a couple of russian twists, stretched out his muscles and did a cartwheel just to be sure of his flexibility. The crowd was divided with white, red, and gold representing his school and green, blue, and orange representing Joffery High.

The colors made Jimin’s eyes ache and he’s never liked games so much for this reason, for the obvious division between people who came to watch sweaty boys push each around while dribbling a ball. He sighed with a shake of his head while going to grab his pom-poms, thudding footsteps sounding behind him as the whistle indicating the game’s start sounded behind him.

“Min,” Jennie made him turn around and Jimin stood taut with his pom-poms. He arched a brow at the smile on her face, it being so uncharacteristically wide.

“What’s up..?” He asked unsurely, moving into his position. Jennie stopped him briefly, eyes shining with something Jimin couldn’t name but sure didn’t like, lips quirked upwards.

“Take the lead during halftime, okay?” Jennie said firmly,patting his shoulder. Jimin’s eyes widened—such a responsibility so suddenly?

“What? Why?” He asked his best friend frantically, the cheering of the crowd and slamming of doors telling him that one of the teams, if not both, had come inside. Jimin made the mistake of looking over his shoulder to see, finding Jungkook in his Varsity jersey almost immediately and feeling his stomach clench.

The older looked stunning, as always.

“Just do it,” Jennie said hurriedly, rushing to grab her own pom-poms. Jimin turned back around and blinked owlishly, not having time to protest when he heard—

“HHey there, hey there! Have you heard? Our team’s the best, that’s the word!”

The blonde cursed under his breath and rushed into his formation once he heard the cheer the amp’d the crowd up. He put on his bright smile, following the rhythmic music playing in the gym in step with his routine.

The whole time, Jimin tried to keep his gaze off of Jungkook. Usually, he would be cheering with Jungkook’s number of thirteen (“It’s your favorite number, right Min? I want a piece of you whenever I play—you’re my good luck charm,”) somewhere on his body—his cheek, his thigh, his neck—in order to show support toward his, well, ex (?) favorite player.

It was hard since the whole reason Jimin joined cheer was to cheer on his hyung. But now, he couldn’t really do that without looking like a needy bitch, right?

He sighed—it was hard; honestly, especially since Jungkook had gotten a sharp haircut with his dyed a pitch black. He looked undeniably great in his uniform, wearing the varsity jersey with a great amount of pride Jimin admired. His smile was present as he joked around with Yugyeom and Yoongi, stretching his arms and legs with ease.

Jimin seemed like a lonely particle outside of the bubble the older had for himself, for the people that actually mattered to him.

“He’s just some sophomore!”

He didn’t belong there, not anymore, though, Jimin’s not sure if ever did belong there. He’s just some sophomore, right? Jungkook would be leaving him this coming fall anyway, so maybe it was better for them to break off this friendship (could Jimin even define it that way at this point?) early rather than mope into his Junior year.

“Min,” The sound of Taehyung calling him worriedly mixed with the sound of the coach’s whistle made Jimin jerk back to the present. He sucked in a shaky breath as the team began to move on the court and he realized that he had basically spaced out throughout his whole routine, Jennie shooting him a reassuring smile while holding his pompoms in one hand.

“It’ll be okay,” She said while rubbing his neck soothingly. Jimin nodded, frown creasing his lips slightly. Taehyung cooed, patting his head while they moved away from the court.

“Yeah,” Jimin took a seat on the reserved bleachers for the cheerleaders and slid his hands between his thighs, trying to focus on anything but the tall blur wearing the number 13 on the court.

“It’ll be okay.”

Jimin sat in silence amidst the cheering and roaring of the crowd.

♡-♡-♡-♡

Jungkook didn’t acknowledge the love he had for Jimin until he was gone, and honestly?

He was a fucking _idiot_ for not realizing it earlier.

After their fight (more like misunderstanding?) Jungkook didn’t see Jimin once. Nope, not once did he see the younger—not in the halls, not around the school, not during lunch, and not even at the mall did Jungkook spot his sweet and cherubic ball of sunshine, which served him some right. The blonde had dropped off of the face of the goddamn Earth following their huge argument, and whenever Jungkook would try to ask for his whereabouts, people would get nosy.

Jimin’s absence really made Jungkook realize a shitload of things, as Seulgi, who was the only one who was really tolerating his shit right now, would say—when nighttime rolled around, he stared at his phone waiting for anything from Jimin, for their daily homework call or a text of “play me pussy” with a word hunt game attached. He slept horribly for the first few days, tossing around in his bed before he gave up entirely and resorted to just breaking night, which also did him no fucking good.

Jungkook missed the giggles in his ear whenever he would be hunched over doing his homework, the arms snakes around his shoulder and the crescent eyes thrown his way in the form of one angelic Jimin Park.

The body that would press against him like a koala to a tree in the night made him miss the bickering they did to get to that point, the way Jimin would swaddle himself in his blanket while waiting for Jungkook to finish ( _“Hyung, I want cuddles,”_ ) whatever the hell he was doing with sleepy eyes. The way Jimin would happily help his mother in the kitchen, the way he would team up with Junghyun or his father on game nights, leaving Jungkook to retaliate with only his mother on his side.

He missed Jimin a lot, of it wasn’t obvious. Jungkook woke up with Jimin on his mind, slept with Jimin in his dreams, fantasized with Jimin through his eyes—it was getting to the point where Jungkook didn’t feel happy anymore without Jimin around him, without the younger’s smile and cute voice to cheer him up. Seulgi said to give him some time to heal, to resume with his regular life before apologizing and confessing to Jimin at a time he would least expect it—but he couldn’t do that anymore, not for any longer. He was tearing his hair out whenever he thought of Jimin and Jungkook refused to do this why any longer.

Which was why he had a plan.

With the fourth dunk he’s done in the past hour, Jungkook hops down from where he was holding onto the rim with ease.

The player who he had crossed grumbled under his breath and retreated as the whistle rang out, declaring it halftime. His teammates came to him with cheers, rubbing his neck as they headed to where the coach was beckoning them.

“Alright,” Their coach, Janghoon, sighed, looking over his clipboard. Yugyeom stood next to Jungkook, fanning at himself before he took a bottle of Gatorade that Yoongi offered him, eyes flicking to his friend. Jungkook was wiping sweat off of his face and neck, trying not to look over to where the cheerleaders were beginning their cheer.

“Jeon,” Coach Janghoon caught attention, making Jungkook snap his neck up unpleasantly. He hissed while Yoongi snickered, Jungkook glaring at his friend while blushing because Jimin had him going _crazy_.

“I spoke with Kim,” Coach Janghoon went on referring to Jennie, tucking his clipboard under his arm. His assistant coach, Heechul, was munching on a bag of chips with his hair stuffed under a backward baseball cap, eyes naturally wide and interested.

Janghoon went on, “She said that Park’s taking the lead after they make their rounds with the crowd, so you can do whatever you want then,” He finished with an amused look.

Jungkook nodded, avoiding his coach’s stare.

“Thanks Coach,” He mumbled.

Janghoon hummed, “This better not mean that you’re going to get distracted, Jeon. He’s pretty, but so is that trophy that’s waiting for us.”

Yoongi snorted while Yugyeom sputtered our a laugh, Jungkook shooting daggers at them through his eyes. He flipped them off before heading off toward the locker rooms, where he knew Seulgi was waiting.

Sure enough when he opened the door, there was Seulgi and Joy bearing flowers, a teddy bear that had to be only centimeters shorter than Jimin, and a pretty purple gift bag with a special gift Jungkook was sure that Jimin would love.

Joy spoke up first when he entered, “Yah, you took so long that Mark is already pestering us about the projector!” She complained, mentioning the video Jungkook spent literal hours on. It took spamming his friends, scrounging through his iCloud, scrolling back through all of his social media and old texts with Jimin to get the shit he needed for that video. In the end, Jungkook wanted to say that it was worth it, but nothing could be confirmed until Jimin smiled at him, only him, again.

“Sorry, coach held me up,” Jungkook mumbled, taking the marigolds from Seulgi. The girls rolled their eyes before Joy tapped away at her phone, sending a message before looking back to Jungkook.

“Whatever—you’re ready now, right?”

Jungkook nodded—he’s been ready since he got to the gym, if he was being honest. He’s spotted Jimin and had his breath taken away—it was the first time since two weeks that he had seen the younger, and seeing him in his appealing uniform and decked out, made up face only left Jungkook gasping for air. He would do anything to get his cherub back, even if it meant riding the the final game into overtime because he wouldn’t allow halftime to end until Jimin forgave him.

“Ready.”

And he _was_ getting him back.

“Get your ass out there then!”

No question about it.

♡-♡-♡-♡

Something weird was going on.

Jimin felt it.

He felt it in the pit of his soul.

Well, not really—you see, when they finished doing their rotation cheer around the gym that consisted of them traveling around the bleachers, hyping up the fans and taunting Joffrey students, Jennie had slapped his ass encouragingly before shoving him to the center. They had made it back to the court where Jimin would lead the pop-and-lock cheer that had some Beyoncé music as its companion before they had been interrupted by abrupt darkness in the gym and cackling giggles over the speakers.

“What?” Jimin put his arms down from where he had been ready to shout out the cheer the crowd was to follow, turning to stare behind him where everyone was watching something in a mix of confusion, cooing, and realization.

That’s when Jimin saw himself on the wall of the gym.

“ _Minnie_ ,” The voice in the video hummed, the angle Landscape from where Jimin was laying on his side on the bed. The blonde hitched a breath as he felt his pompoms slip from his hands, body unmoving as he heard that stupid, unmistakable cackle again through the Snapchat video, a hand reaching out to prod at Jimin’s features annoyingly.

“ _Hyung_ ,” He heard himself grumble, pouting before he flipped to the other side. The cackle grew louder before the video cut off, showing another instantly thanks to some careful editing, Jimin now realizing that there was a song playing in the background of it all.

(“ _There for you by Troye Sivan? You’ve never heard it? It’s my favorite song, hyung!_ ”)

In the next video, he was smiling.

“ _Jimin!_ ” He heard Jungkook whine, the video being taken from the perspective of someone else. In the video, Jimin still had pink hair, curled up cutely around his face as he ran around the empty school halls in his Ugg’s, turtle hugging his body.

“ _Go home, hyung, I’ll be fi—_ **_hyung!_ ** ” Jimin was cut off in the video when Jungkook had captured him in their game of tag, wearing his Nike bag and looking ready to leave. The older had picked him up from the waist, making Jimin shriek with giggles before he was slung over Jungkook’s shoulder, the older pleased.

“ _Yah, are you recording Yugyeom?_ ”

Jimin felt his eyes water when an influx of pictures came next. It went in a chronological order that only Jimin and obviously Jungkook would know of, pictures of them smiling, winking, hugging, and even flipping the camera off appearing before his eyes. He saw snapshots of the photo strips they had (overall it was somewhere in the twenties,) of pictures of them during holidays, game nights, pool days—all of it had Jimin with weak knees.

But he didn’t expect the next part.

“ _Say it,_ ” He heard Yoongi’s voice shortly before he saw the older appear, sitting next to Jungkook in what seemed to be Jungkook’s room. His hyung looked annoyed, his tongue poking at his cheek while sitting cross legged on his bed, camera showing a wide shot of the two in his room.

“ _Aish_ ,” Jimin felt his heart swell up in fondness, the way Jungkook leaned his into his palm and grinned lazily at the screen with that stupid look he gave Jimin whenever he was being a slick shit, “ _Jiminie? If you’re watching this, it’s because I love you._ ”

His heart stopped.

_What?_

On-screen Jungkook laughed with a wink, the same one he gave Jimin when he was only a freshman and didn’t know him so well.

“ _I’m not kidding either—so don’t doubt it when I say I love you_.”

Jimin felt the wall of tears fall and he struggled to stay upright. The crowd was now publicly cheering, cooing as the rest of the video went on to show more videos and pictures of the two them together. The last video shown was the last one they’d taken together before their argument, one where Jimin had been curled up on Jungkook’s chest while watching Mulan with Jungkook on his laptop, dozing off occasionally.

“ _Cute_ ,” He heard on-screen Jungkook chuckle, the both of them visible to the camera. Jimin was seen closing his eyes, cheek squished around Jungkook’s chest with his arms wrapped around Jungkook’s arm.

Jimin had never bothered to see the video when Jungkook posted it on SnapChat, too annoyed with the fact that he had been caught sleeping on camera for the umpteenth time by his hyung to look at it.

That’s why when he saw Jungkook stare down at him briefly with a loving gaze, hand threaded into Jimin’s hair before he leant down and pressed a kiss to his forehead, Jimin _lost_ it.

He whipped around as the video ended, the gym still dark and the crowd still fawning over the video. They were chanting now, calling Jungkook’s name while Jimin wondered where in the hell he could be at. People had phones whipped out, flash on as they recorded Jimin looking like a lost puppy searching for his owner.

He was going to scream—where was Jungkook?

The gym fell oddly quietly after a hissing round of ‘Shh!’

The squeaking of sneakers made Jimin turn around.

“Jimin,” There stood Jungkook, hair parted and skin soaked with sweat, making it glisten under the heat of the gym. Jimin’s lips quivered when he saw Seulgi holding a giant bear and Joy a purple gift bag, hands over his mouth.

Jungkook took another step forward, “Baby,” The older said next, a smile playing at his lips.

Jimin couldn’t believe what was happening, honestly, he had to be dreaming. There was no way that Jungkook would do this, right? Everything had to be made up in his head, had to be a figment of his wild imagination that he should’ve left behind in primary school and—

“I’m sorry,” He heard Jungkook whisper and Jimin then realized that the older had moved closer. He blinked away a wall of tears, clearing up the image of Jungkook staring down at him with a bouquet of Marigolds in one hand and the other resting on his cheek.

“I..” Jimin felt his throat clog up and he looked down at his sneakers. Jungkook hummed, using his fingers to tip his chin up again while staring at Jimin with eyes filled with love, with a look Jimin thought he would never really get.

“I’m not dating Seulgi and you’re not just some sophomore,” Jungkook mumbled, running a thumb over Jimin’s bottom lip. The blonde felt relief flood through him at those words but still couldn’t help but feel the teensiest tinge of anger at his stupid, stupid hyung.

“Then why would you say that?” He tried to say it angrily, but ended up sounding like a hurt puppy instead. The crowd had been watching them like if they were the hottest spectacle to see, silent as they strained their ears to hear what people on the court could only hear.

Jimin went on, “Y-You hurt me, Jungkook—a lot. I cried nonstop and I thought t-that I meant more to you than j-just that.” He sniffled, arms wrapping around his body while he peered at Jungkook through his lashes sadly, lips curved down into a quivering frown.

Jungkook sighed at that, hand enclosing itself around Jimin’s chubby wrist. The blonde tried to resist when he pulled him forward lightly, but took reluctant steps on the second attempt.

“You do mean more than that to me,” Jungkook wrapped both arms around him with the bouquet still clutched in his hand. “I’m an idiot, I know—but I also know that you’re probably the best thing that ever happened to me, Minnie. I love you so much and I’ve missed you so much—if you take me back, I promise to treat you like the princess you are and to never, ever hurt you again, baby, I promise.”

Jimin buried his face in Jungkook’s shoulder, eyes watering with his arms slowly going limp. He wanted to believe everything that Jungkook was saying and he wanted to be happy—hell, if Jungkook liked him, shouldn’t things be alright now? Would Jungkook say true to his word?

The elder curled around Jimin’s lithe figure, arms getting tighter around Jimin’s waist.

“Please,” He whispered, truly pleading.

Jimin swallowed the lump in his throat and felt his arms rising on their accord. He wrapped them around Jungkook’s neck, pulling him closer as the crowd cheered and he whispered a gentle “Okay,” in return.

Jungkook let out a long breath before he let out a sound Jimin really couldn’t describe, tightening his grip on Jimin before lifting him from the ground.

“Hyung!” Jimin squeaked, hands firmly planted in Jungkook’s shoulders to prevent him from falling. Jungkook grinned at him, lowering him as quickly as he lifted Jimin up and brought a hand up to Jimin’s face, cradling Jimin’s chin.

“Can I?” The elder hummed, eyes wide. Jimin blinked, unsure of what he wanted until he saw the other focus in on his lips. The blonde flushed red before he nodded, fingers playing with the material of Jungkook’s jersey.

“You can…” He mumbled, embarrassed. Jungkook’s eyes disappeared as he smiled and he swooped in, capturing Jimin’s lips with his own. The crowd was going wild now, Jimin hearing Jennie and Taehyung amongst the mass of people chanting his name, Joy and Seulgi seemingly overjoyed while they squealed at the sight.

Jimin closed his eyes, tilting his head as he focused on the kiss. It was sweet and slow, nothing heated as Jungkook took the lead gently. Jimin allowed for his lips to part and for Jungkook to make an entrance past them, bliss overtaking him when he did.

When they pulled, Jimin felt that it was too short, but that didn’t matter.

Jungkook was staring at him like he was the most beautiful thing on the Earth right now and _that’s_ what mattered.

♡-♡-♡-♡

After the game (they won with such a big gap, Jimin actually felt bad for the other team), Jimin found himself gently wiping away his makeup in Jungkook’s bathroom, wearing his hyung’s baggy clothing and hair in puffy tresses thanks to his braids and shower.

He was humming, swaying his hips to Troye Sivan with the bathroom door open. His bare-face greeted him after tedious minutes of wiping away the makeup that had smudged from crying earlier, cheeks red from all of the harsh patting and rubbing he had done.

“Beautiful,” Jungkook hummed, scaring Jimin enough for him to jump. Jimin turned around as his hyung started to laugh, arms crossed as he leaned against the doorway with his hair wet and face ruddy.

“Meanie,” Jimin huffed, gathering the makeup wipes he had spared away in his hyung’s bathroom and shoving them back into the medicine cabinet. Jimin discarded the dirty ones into the wastebasket, patting his hands on his shirt as he tried to turn around, only to be caught against the counter by Jungkook.

"Sorry," Jungkook muttered, though his face said otherwise. Jimin didn't care though, only slid his hands up to Jungkook's face and pulled his close, a smile teasing at his lips.

Jungkook blinked and Jimin giggled, "Ah, hyung, you're so cute!" He gushed, throwing his arms around the other's shoulders. Jungkook laughed along with him, Jimin's laughter too contagious to even think about arguing with the fact that he was called cute.

Instead, Jungkook retaliated.

"You're cute too," He hummed, hands resting on Jimin's waist. The younger flushed with a pout, though Jungkook could tell he was beaming under the praise. It only pushed him to sneakily slide his hands lower until he had a good grip on the back of Jimin's thighs, lifting him easily and placing him on the bathroom counter.

Jimin would be lying if he would've said that the action wasn’t fucking hot.

"H-Hyung," The blonde whimpered when Jungkook pressed himself between his open legs, hands back on Jimin's waist, rubbing sensual circles into his pudgy skin. The older nosed Jimin's jawline, hands moving down to his thighs where he squeezed the hard muscle in appreciation, Jimin's clinging to him with a flushed face.

"I love you," Jungkook hummed, pressing a kiss to Jimin's neck. The blonde let out the smallest mewl, arms wrapped tight around Jungkook's neck.

"I love you too," He whispered, mentally counting the kisses Jungkook left on his neck. When the older started trailing upward, kissing his forehead, his cheeks, his eyes, then his lips, Jimin felt it all.

He felt all of the love Jungkook had for him and had been giving him.

And he hoped that the older could feel it too.

 


End file.
